Yeah, who knows what all the real details are? I just wanted to point out the claimed certification (UK guys can chime in on the training required for RYA certification at this level) - as it was apparently not a case of some newb "sailing off into the sunset without any experience or proper training".
(snip)

As is all too frequently the case, it depends on which news you read, and who they quote. The owner of the yacht brokerage was quoted in The Mail:

Quote:

'She told us she had a 'navy ticket', which didn't mean anything to us but which she said was some sort of qualification.

It was some other employee of the brokerage who used the words "captain's ticket".

Sounds more to do with this being a good premise for a TV movie than it does as a warning to new sailors.
So a 4 year kid turns the key on his moms car which he was sitting unattended, flips it into reverse like mom does and backs over a bank. is that a warning for new drivers or more of a story that makes you say wow?

Yeah, who knows what all the real details are? I just wanted to point out the claimed certification (UK guys can chime in on the training required for RYA certification at this level) - as it was apparently not a case of some newb "sailing off into the sunset without any experience or proper training".

These kinds of threads - as you've titled it - are intended to be cautionary tales for newbs to establish a certain point of view. But, that means, even more so, that the details really need to be right on. Otherwise, it feels more like fear-mongering than cautionary tale.

This just seems to be a much more complicated case than a complete newb throwing caution and common sense into the toilet and hoisting the sails.

In fact, it might be more a cautionary tale for the semi-trained-and-experienced guys to take some refresher courses (Safety at Sea, ASA Certs, etc.) and forego singlehanding.

I have enough personal experience not to trust quotes in the press but she supposedly said that she had a "navy ticket" or a "captian's ticket" - as one of those "UK guys", I can tell you that there is no RYA qualification that matches either description.

I was out of sailing for ten years and was surprised how much I had forgotten and how much had changed when I came back. What's that chart notation mean again? what's that little DSC button for? wow, chartplotters are cool etc. etc.

I suspect she was some newb sailing off into the sunset without any experience or proper training ... that she had sailed a bit sometime in the distant past doesn't really count. We'll probably never know the details.

I didn't mean to be " fear-mongering" but if it scares one person into learning a little before setting out - great! You want to have the thread re-titled - go ahead. Maybe we can agree to differ on this one without arguing about it for three days

Maybe we can agree to differ on this one without arguing about it for three days

How about 2 days, then? We've gotta get at least a little mileage out of it!

I take your point, G. You may be absolutely right about her "newbness". No offense intended. Whatever her actual experience was, it obviously wasn't enough to prevent some really bad and/or strange decisions.

As has been pointed out above, this whole thing just sounds really off. A small, relatively inexpensive boat, paid for with a bank draft, for a wealthy couple? A singlehanded passage at night in rough conditions against a treacherous lee shore - while the hubby drives home? The pawning, the recent remarrying, etc.

BTW Where did "at night" come from? The reports seem to say that she sailed from Falmouth to Mousehole on Friday, which is trickly passage itself. Presumably she stayed in Mousehole Friday night (smart move) and left again on Saturday. Did I miss something?

Missed that! So she sailed to Mousehole on Friday and then didn't leave until Saturday evening. I was about to say that would be strange indeed, but Mousehole is a drying harbor so, if she missed the early morning tide, she would have to wait until late afternoon to be able to leave. Penzance (just North of Mousehole) shows high tide on Saturday at 5:08 pm. Maybe foolish but not so strange.

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